Overlay style on Wells Fargo Banking Page

What do you think?
Does Wells Fargo really need a second, different-looking link style for something that has a special hover state like this one, they just added this to their page.

Evidently no one knows what "current posted balance means"... but I think having another link style is just confusing and unnecessary.

Recently, my great friend, Jendar Morales decided to move back to Salt Lake with the purpose of creating what will be called The Art Haus SLC. The purpose of this space will be to bring some of what museums magically do and bring to a community. With a three-part focus on fostering local art talent, bridging cultural and social divides and education outreach programs — I hope they will bring something very special to the Salt Lake Area.

Let me know what you think - and see this and other cool things on The Designer Co-op - another blog I just started writing for.

This would make Tufte's skin crawl.

Firstly, I think that this is a very interesting topic – Should the activities and the validity of Invisible Children a "not-for-profit" organization, come into question?
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/post/18890947431/we-got-trouble
I liked this article in response to the hype about the group's upcoming documentary release Kony 2012. 
Here is the response from Invisible Children -
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
I was reading along, and came upon this infographic, which convinced me, after a general study of tufte's work, that this organization is totally bogus – tell me if you agree.

“If we are feeling distracted, we should pay attention to that distraction. It may be telling us that there is something better elsewhere, something more deserving of our attention. Or it may be telling us we are on the wrong path, just when we thought we were zooming in to that perfect conclusion of a paragraph or a project. Or it may be telling us we need better tools, that the set-up we have is not fully appreciating the particularities and peccadilloes of our own work life and demands. Or it may be telling us that we need better partners, or a better method, someone or something to help us over the hurdle. Or it may just be telling us we are working too hard and we need to put down what we are doing and go outside for a walk, or stop for a cup of tea, or go for a run, or maybe just check out Facebook for a while. Distraction is our friend because it reminds us that we are fully human, not just workers, and that our lives are complex and, trying to shut out the complexity, may in fact turn out to be the least productive way to lead a life."

Thanks to Keenan Cummings for sharing from stoweboyd.com

Hey folks - whichever 5 people are following me, my portfolio site has been revamped and relaunched!

megporterdesign.com

give me your thoughts, comments and ideas for improvement

Sorry.

I'm sorry, my site is down - :(((((((

I will be putting it back together ASAP - megporterdesign.com

I recently came across some pretty prints by artist and musician ISO50 - here

Check them out - Love the layering and simplicity of the  profile shapes. Each is signed and numbered... beautiful.

moving brands: new wikipedia identity!

http://www.movingbrands.com/?category_name=wikipedia-work#identity

Designers have always had a great influence on branding and business in general - check out this site that shows just exactly what design has done when the founders of a startup include a designer in the mix!

Christmas for real

Love this so much. So cute.

Things to think about

Today I was reading some things my sister wrote and I felt a little lost in my life, or I realized that I felt lost. I like that my church has a General Conference 2x a year to keep me centered, to bring me back to thinking about what God wants me to do, rather than what I want to do - or what I HAVE to do.
On that note - I'm going to listen to the Relief Society General Session today at work since I missed it on Saturday.
I often get bogged down by the immediate things in life - the tasks "at hand". Why is it that they seem to important? My work has basically consumed me whole for the past 3 months or so -- I work late almost every day and I get home, and then I eat and then I sleep and do it all over again. I am closer with the people at work than any of my friends outside of work because I have no time for them. The problem with coworkers is that they don't go all-the-way with you as a friend really. If one of you got laid off, or if one of you had an accident... would they call you anymore? I think there are a few people that are like that... but few, very few.
Last week I was hospitalized during my business trip in Boston, and I layed in serious pain for about 3 days. I was very sick with something--they diagnosed me with viral gastroenteritis--although I know they had no idea really what I had. My body is still so out of whack. My doctor will recommend, most likely, to move to the next tier of treatment for my disease - crohn's. I am not sure what to do, and I fear that I lack the ability to receive direction from God on this. I feel scared and far away from knowing what path to choose. I feel lost and alone in my suffering -- even with my husband and family's support.
As a woman, I have always cherished my ability to bear and birth children. I feel it is a special and unique gift that has been given to women and for that reason I have always been excited for that time in my life. I am currently in the best years of my life to do this, to be a mother and to carry my babies...and I can't. I am not healthy enough to do it. It feels like I am failing... or that I am broken. I have had experiences with the Spirit of God that lead me to believe that I will bear children and that I need to prepare. I am not sure when, or how, but I have felt that I will. I struggle to communicate about this with my husband... and anyone else, for that matter. And so, I feel like I could burst. Probably because I have no control over the situation and I am a controlling person.
I cannot wait much longer, I need guidance - I hope General Conference will bring me what I am seeking.

logo design: iEventfoto

I don't know if they'll go with this design, but I am really liking it.

A blanket

I really want this blanket so much - I want I want.

beautiful design. : ) Sometimes I really love things at target.

Slow Design Manifesto

I believe in this - thanks gavin, for the share: via nineteenthirtyfour

Designer Callie Neylan was fed up, like me, with deadlines too soon, designing too fast for clients too unhappy. The question "why can't you design any faster?" really weighs on me. And, as Callie says, heaven forbid they pay you what you deserve, or what you ask for....

She has taken the Slow Food Movement from Italy and modified it for Slow Design. Enjoy:

01 Our forefathers of design, who first designed under the tenets of modernism and in response to an increasingly fast-paced world, nevertheless spent years of slow, careful consideration perfecting and codifying the design disciplines we know today: architecture, industrial design, graphic design, and today, interaction design.

02 With the advent of the information age, we are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Design, which disrupts our vision, pervades the aesthetics of our workplaces and homes and forces us to look at ugly things.

03 A firm defense of good, well-thought out design and opposition to cheap templates, bad typography, malignant form, easy solutions, and unappreciative clients is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Design.

04 May suitable doses of guaranteed visual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment resulting from a slowly-designed, well-designed thing preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.

05 Our defense should begin in the studios and design schools with Slow Design. Let us rediscover the fruits of thoughtful concepting, adequate rounds of revisions, and respect for our discipline and banish the degrading effects of Fast Design.

06 In the name of productivity, Fast Design has changed our way of looking and threatens our user experiences and visual literacy. So Slow Design is now the only truly progressive answer.

07 That is what real culture is all about: developing taste rather than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, projects (are you with me, fellow Good Designers)?

08 Slow Design guarantees more beautiful, pleasurable, useful communication and objects.

So amazing.... with a Massimo Vignelli quote at the end: “The life of a designer is a life of fight: fight against the ugliness.”

On to some more very slow, careful design.

Hype for Type

New favorite? I want to spend my money...

best new favorite

This

 

I wish we could get a puppy so bad! And also pinned here...follow me!

Today

Today I cut up a credit card and paid off another. The End.
Make that three credit cards, paid off!

It's time to get real

Maybe if I start writing all my goals on my blog I will actually accomplish some of them.
Has anyone had any success in this?
I don't mean to be negative, there are just so many things I want to do....
Read 5 books before the end of the summer.
Finish recovering my chair.
Plant flowers in my pots.
Watch the godfather.
Lose 10 lbs.
Get my Crohn's Disease under control.
Start selling things on ebay/amazon.

Perhaps I should pat myself on the back for some of the things I have accomplished:
1. I recently got to go on a research business trip with my design team, it was tiring, but enlightening.
2. Jared and I have been harvesting some of our garden, which is overflowing with greens - anyone want some arugula? Yellow Pear heirloom maters?
3. We finally finished refinishing our table - it took almost 1 whole year, but mostly because there was an 8-9 month sabbatical from refinishing during the winter. You should come and see it.
4. I finally sent in my camera to get it repaired. Now I will be able to share images - now that the garden is completely grown....  : /
5. Our chair is getting recovered... it's still in the process, but I think I'm going to work on it tomorrow, or maybe even tonight!
6. I am halfway done writing our thank you notes for our wedding - our one year mark is fast approaching. I hope to have them all done by then.
7. A site I designed finally went up - it is for a custom home building site for a construction management firm in Kansas City. You can view it here.
8. I have lost 5-7 lbs.  - we may be able to attribute this to catching a summer cold, however.
9. We finally got our settlement for my injury on my hand and will be using a lot of it to pay off all our credit card debts - YAY!
10. I am starting to do research for a new business idea with my friends from Picture This! Fun fun fun - I love interaction design!

Have a great day - and pat yourself on the back for something you did.

Sam Sam, she's my man

Sorry, it rhymed. I need to shout out to my main mommy blogger, Samantha Kelly. She is doing great, and I enjoy watching her videos and seeing her cute pics on youngpeopleinlove.

Check them out! Follow them, even.

Life never stops moving

Can someone tell me how to make things move any slower? I am having trouble keeping up with my brain - my body is too slow... fat...sick...
I'm pretty excited for:
1. Friends getting married
2. Family Reunions
3. Harry Potter Party
4. Turning 27
5. Going to Harry Potter Land?
6. Reading books on my iPhone
7. Blog/etsy/money?
8. Getting some new design/interaction design work
9. Paying off all my debts in the next month or so
10. Planning for grad school, big moves, life decisions

Thanks be to God for giving me such an exciting life!

google PLUS

So far, I like it.
My opinion is based off of the interaction models that are a little/a lot more interesting and intuitive than those of facebook. Facebook doesn't organize friend groups very interestingly.
Drag and drop functionality of circles is pretty nice - i'm interested to see where google continues to go with the iphone/mobile app for google+. Last night I couldn't get to the app for it, today i can.

Can they keep it up?
only time will tell us.

I really like that it's integrated in with my gmail interface as well...